Abstract
MR. L. E. CUNNINGHAM at Harvard has detected the periodic comet Grigg-Skjellerup. Its position on April 30d lh 30s U.T. was R.A. 6h 59m 0s, N. Decl. 7 ° 53′ 27″, mag. 13. In the “B.A.A. Handbook” for 1937 the elements and also an ephemeris are given, perturbations being taken into account. Comparison with this ephemeris indicates that perihelion will be reached on May 23.0 U.T., which is about half a day later than the predicted time. Dr. M. Davidson has used observations from February 4 to April 1, forming normal positions, and finds that Comet 19376 (Whipple) is moving in an elliptic orbit with eccentricity 0.999619. The period is very long—about 300,000 years.
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Comets. Nature 139, 835 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139835b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139835b0